Spartans Cruise to Season Opening Win over PSU-York

Nov 15, 2009

YORK, PA – The York College men’s basketball team
opened their 2009-10 campaign in impressive fashion as they rolled
past cross-town opponent Penn State-York 99-66 in the opening round
of the White Rose City Classic on Sunday evening in York. The
Spartans advance to face Catholic University, as the Cardinals were
70-58 winners over St. Vincent in the tournament’s other
semifinal.

The Spartans opened the game with a
Nick Brady (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic)
three-point play and never trailed after that. The Spartans pushed
the lead to 10 at 20-10 with 13:51 remaining in the opening half.
The Lions trimmed the lead to 20-12 but the Green and White then
fashioned a 15-0 spurt that covered just under five minutes of game
time. The run turned an eight-point advantage into a 23-point
bulge. The Spartans pushed the lead to a half-high of 31 on a
Todd Maciejewski (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion) lay up
with 1:37 left. The Lions scored the final six points of the half
as they trailed 51-26 at the break.

PSU-York came out of the intermission and
continued their run from the end of the first half, beginning the
half by outscoring the Spartans 8-2 to open the second 20 minutes.
The Lions’ 14-2 spurt trimmed the York lead to 19 points with
18:36 left in the game. PSU-York actually cut the Spartan lead to
17 twice with the final time coming on a Johan Erimee lay up at the
16:37 mark. That bucket kicked the Spartans back into gear as the
hosts hit the Lions with a 10-2 spurt, pushing the lead back to 25
at 67-42. The Spartan lead would not fall below 22 the rest of the
way and reached a game high of 33 twice, which is where it would
sit at the final horn.

The Spartans were very balanced as 13 players
reached the scoring column in the win. Brady paced the Spartans
with a team-high 20 points, as he was 7-for-14 from the floor,
3-for-6 from three, and 3-for-3 from the line. Junior Kevin
Whaley (Dover, Pa./Dover) made his Spartan debut a highly
successful one as he had 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and
two steals in just 21 minutes of work. Junior Dylan Hoffman
(Dallastown, Pa./Dallastown) also played well with 10
points, five assists, four rebounds, and a pair of steals. Senior
Jeremy Keefer (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) added nine
points, a team-high seven rebounds, and three assists in just 22
minutes of game time. Sophomore Paul Kouvaris (Baltimore,
Md./Cardinal Gibbons) chipped in with eight points and six
rebounds while he also blocked a pair of shots.

Horace Jackson led the Lions with a game-high
23 points on a very efficient 10-of-12 shooting from the floor
including a perfect 2-for-2 from three. Erimee added 11 points
while Chase McGowan was the third Lion in double figures with 10
points and seven rebounds.

The Spartans shot a blistering 53.7% in the
first half from the floor and finished the game at 47.6% while they
shot 40% (6-for-15) from three. The Lions finished the game at 50%
but took a whopping 30 shots less than York (82-52). The Spartans
dominated the glass as they held a 50-31 edge in rebounding
including a 24-6 edge in offensive rebounds. That edge led York to
a 23-4 scoring difference in second-chance points.

The Spartans committed just 12 turnovers while
they forced the Lions into 25 miscues, which the Green and White
turned into 37 points.

In the nightcap, Catholic used accurate free
throw shooting to down St. Vincent as the Cardinal win sets a
reunion of former Capital Athletic Conference foes in the
tournament championship game. The Cardinals, who left the CAC for
the Landmark Conference three seasons ago, were a very balanced
squad in the win. Chris Kearney poured in 15 points while Shawn
Holmes added 13 points and Jason Banzhaf added 12 points and a
game-high eight rebounds. Clay Penecale added 10 points while RJ
Dixon handed out seven assists.

BJ McGill led the Bearcats with 25 points, six
rebounds, five assists and four steals in 34 minutes of action.

The two teams combined for 57 turnovers in the
game while each squad had 15 steals.

The championship game will tip off at 7:00 pm
and will be preceded by the consolation game at 5:00 pm at Charles
Wolf Gymnasium.